ESL lists a packed agenda

• Governor addresses joint session of Andhra Pradesh legislature
  
• Spells out government’s priorities for fast-paced growth
  
• Govt to embark on 100-day agenda, rework Vision 2020
  
• Decentralised development for growth of all 3 regions
  
• Thrust on agriculture, industry and services sectors
  
• Centre urged to liberally help AP, speed up special status
  
• AP aims to be among top 3 States in the country by 2022

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Government has embarked upon a 100-day development agenda to put the administration back on track for realising the vision of Swarnandhra Pradesh. The government will also redraft the Vision 2020 document to that will set standards for a new development paradigm in sync with the changed circumstances to place the State among the top three performing states in the country by 2022, and further make it a developed state by 2029.

Addressing the maiden joint sitting of the AP Legislature here on Saturday, Governor E S L Narasimhan said the government was seeking to work out a new model of governance with focus on decentralisation and development of multiple business hubs.

Promising hassle-free and conducive environment to encourage establishment of new industries, the Governor said, "Our focus will be on setting up an ideal environment of infrastructure like roads and transport system, railway system, seaport, airport, free trade zones, water transport system, telecommunications and optical fibre systems."

He said the state government would make all-out efforts to attain more than 10 per cent annual growth rate in the coming decade by focusing on building growth corridors for identified sectors for creating jobs.

The government is also contemplating to develop the state as a world-class manufacturing hub. “We are also planning to establish many contemporary versions of cyber cities by leveraging latest developments in technology, social media, cloud (computing) and mobile technologies for development as well as governance,” he said.
In addition, the government will set up two Information Technology Investment Regions (ITIRs) at Visakhapatnam and Tirupati and two mega IT centres at Anantapuram and Vijayawada to propel growth of IT sector, the Governor said.

The government would also return to SMART (Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent) governance and will evolve strategies to push economic growth in all the three sectors – agriculture, industry and services.

The stage is set for a brighter and prosperous Andhra Pradesh and it is only a matter of time that the state’s economy will grow faster than not only its southern counterparts but also other states," the Governor said.

Narasimhan said the manner in which Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated had left behind a deep sense of disappointment and wounds that would take time to heal and discords relating to distribution of assets and liabilities warranted a "re-look" to fulfill the aspirations of the people. Terming the bifurcation as unscientific, Narasimhan said it had left a deep scar on the psyche of Telugu people and those wounds would take some time to heal. The provisions made in the AP Reorganisation Act for the development of (residuary) state of Andhra Pradesh were "wholly inadequate" and could not compensate for the loss of opportunity and would leave the state severely disadvantaged, the Governor said. The division was yet to address the vital issue of a new capital, which has also created an avoidable uncertainty, he remarked. The process of bifurcation, coupled with frittering away of resources and mal-governance have deeply impacted the state and its finances which are in disarray. The division made the residuary AP a revenue deficit state on non-plan account by more than Rs 15,000 crore, he said. Narasimhan also said the central government should also hasten the process of according Special Category State status to AP. The state would also request the Centre to approve a special development package for AP , he added.